current

passing from person to person; circulating: current money, current rumors

commonly used, known, or accepted; prevalent: a current term

Accounting

designating any asset that would normally be converted into cash within one year

designating any liability that must be paid within one year

Origin of current

altered (infl. by L) from Middle English curraunt from Old French curant, present participle of courre from Classical Latin currere, to run from Indo-European base an unverified form kers-, to run, wagon from source Gaulish carros

a flow of water or air, esp. when strong or swift, in a definite direction; specif., such a flow within a larger body of water or mass of air

a general tendency or drift; course

Elec. the flow or rate of flow of electrons, ions, or holes in a conductor or medium between two points having a difference in potential, measured in amperes and equal to the ratio of the voltage to the resistance: symbol, I

A flowing movement in a liquid, gas, plasma, or other form of matter, especially one that follows a recognizable course.

A flow of positive electric charge. The strength of current flow in any medium is related to voltage differences in that medium, as well as the electrical properties of the medium, and is measured in amperes. Since electrons are stipulated to have a negative charge, current in an electrical circuit actually flows in the opposite direction of the movement of electrons.

A Closer Look Electric current is the phenomenon most often experienced in the form of electricity. Any time an object with a net electric charge is in motion, such as an electron in a wire or a positively charged ion jetting into the atmosphere from a solar flare, there is an electric current; the total current moving through some cross-sectional area in a given direction is simply the amount of positive charge moving through that cross-section. Current is sometimes confused with electric potential or voltage, but a voltage difference between two points (such as the two terminals of a battery) means only that current can potentially flow between them; how much does in fact flow depends on the resistance of the material between the two points. Electrical signals transmitted through a wire generally propagate at nearly the speed of light, but the current in the wire actually moves very slowly: pushing electrons into one end of the wire is rather like pushing a marble into one end of a tube filled with marbles—a marble (or electron) gets pushed out the other end almost instantly, even though the marbles (or electrons) inside move only incrementally.

(1) The flow of electrons through a circuit. Measured in "amperes." See amp and voltage.

(2) The latest version or model.

(3) (Current) An earlier Windows PIM from IBM that included a calendar, address book, phone dialer, outliner, word processor and Gantt charts for project tracking. It was revised by its developer, Jensen-Jones Inc., Red Bank, NJ, into a new package called Commence.